About the Book

Mrchchhakatika is one of the best dramas in ten acts composed by Sudraka. He bypass many conventional rules of dramaturgy and shows such unusual scenes as the nocturnal pursuit of a girl by lustful men, street-fights of gamblers, open quarrel and abuse between king’s guards and between the contestants in a court of law, house-breaking and theft, sleep scene, murder and parade of the accused though city streets, and a scene of sati. Even the angel of love is different, because the heroine, a young woman and a young man goes to meet in pouring rain, thunder and darkness. The story is partly historical and partly invented, with no mythological ingredients.

About the Author

King Sudraka was one of the best Sanskrit dramatists who was probably born in South India (Andhra Pradesh). The drama itself tells of him as a Brahmana, who versed in many sciences and as one who dies be self-immolation at the age of over a hundred years. He was known to be the author of at least half a dozen Sanskrit works, but nothing can be said either about his authorship.